Law of Effect
Thorndike's account that behaviour followed by a good outcome becomes more likely in that situation, and behaviour followed by a bad outcome less likely.
What it is
Edward Thorndike set it out in his Animal Intelligence monograph, built on experiments with cats, dogs and chicks rather than on anecdote. Kennon Lattal's 1998 review traces how the account explained behaviour without appeal to reason and how it fed later work on reinforcement.
In effect
In the article on operant conditioning, it is the starting point from which later work on consequences grew.
What it does not say
It is a general principle. It does not say in advance which outcomes count as good for a given animal or person; that is settled by the effect on behaviour.
Sources
- Lattal, K. A. (1998). A century of effect: Legacies of E. L. Thorndike's Animal Intelligence monograph. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 70(3), 325-336.